For Theresa Steinlein, at 22 the youngest member of the German sailing team, the fourth day in Marseille was a rollercoaster of emotions. For the first time, a windsurfing marathon was started at the Olympic Games. This somewhat over-ambitious attempt would probably have been better left alone by the Olympic race organisers on this day. It ended after 90 minutes when the time limit was reached in light winds and the race was cancelled. Prior to this, the windsurfers had pumped their souls out of their bodies, tormenting the boards, which could no longer be placed on the foils, through the water. This was not a good advert for the sport of surfing and sailing in the light and once again unstable winds that were forecast.
iQFOiL marathon - a good idea at the wrong time
After the physical endurance test, which was followed by a volley of short races, Theresa Steinlein had words of criticism but also praise for the marathon, which was intended as a fan spectacle against a magnificent backdrop, starved in the doldrums and made the TV broadcasters desperate: "We were only behind the island twice. That was really frustrating because people who were 20 minutes behind you suddenly arrived again and were in line with you. But the marathon is actually a pretty cool idea. If we'd have foiled through, it would have been really good! I was in a really good position. That's why the cancellation was all the more annoying. But I tried to make up for it with the slaloms." The former sailor, who only switched to windsurfing four years ago, managed to do just that on Wednesday afternoon, finishing 5th, 5th, 13th and 12th with an outstanding performance in terms of fitness.
Sebastian Kördel created a lot of excitement in the afternoon and evening in the bay of Marseille and also in the jury rooms in the Olympic harbour. The 2022 windsurfing world champion and 2023 runner-up had started his Olympic premiere on Monday as co-favourite after the total cancellation of all windsurfing races on Sunday. Instead of leading the field, however, Kördel faltered badly. He surfed seven weak races in a row, sometimes conceding high double-digit results. The black streak of the NRV co-favourite at the Olympics initially seemed to continue on Wednesday with an early start disqualification.
Kördel with comeback, collision and protest success
But then came a somewhat more stable winds and a stark tack that hardly anyone could believe in. In the eighth race on Wednesday, Sebastian Kördel was in a promising position for the first time at this Olympic regatta in second place on the way to the finish. The finish was already close when he had a painful collision with Dutchman Luuc Van Opzeeland.
Kördel describes the momentous situation while holding the ice pack with his right hand to cool his demolished left forearm: "He came out of the jibe a little higher, I was downwind but still in front, he had more height. That means he came down on me from behind at speed. Then I shouted 'space' to show him that I was there, that I was overlapping. I think that startled him somehow. That's when he luffed, lost the front wing, spun over to the front and I got the pole on my arm."
Kördel then let it rip twice in a row, as if after a wake-up call, even with a sore arm - he took the first two race wins for the German Sailing Team at this Olympic regatta. After the brilliant comeback, the 1.91 metre tall windsurfer was initially ranked 17th. As a result of the collision, Kördel and the Dutchman later protested against each other: Kördel against Van Opzeeland. And Van Opzeeland against Kördel.
The Olympic reflection on the essentials
The jury ruled in favour of the German windsurfer - and gave him back second place. This allowed Sebastian Kördel to move up to 13th place in the classification later on Wednesday evening. The day, which began with an early start disqualification, turned into a gala for Kördel, who is expected to have five race opportunities on Thursday to make up seven points on tenth place and qualify for the final rounds of the new Olympic iQFOiL windsurfers.
Kördel wants to take his recipe for success from this eventful fourth day of the regatta into the remaining races. He wants to tackle the races ahead of him step by step and says: "Today I simply focussed on the old things that I'm good at: Starting at the pin and being fast. I was also a bit lucky that we had good wind and I didn't have to pump so much. Finally there was a normal wind, ten to 14 knots, not any holes."
